Does anyone have one of these? (Harley Benton 2x12 with V30s)

LooseMoose

http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_g212_vintage.htm

I'm seriously considering buying that as I need two Vintage 30s, and then whacking my old speakers into it but (silly question) does it come apart?  If so, how?  Want to make sure I don't ruin it by trying to pry the thing apart!

Cheers,

James

John_A

Yes, I had one. It's not immediately obvious how they come apart but you need to gently pry the front off isinglass a small screwdriver starting at one corner. It's just held on by some industrial strength Velcro stuff. Once that's done it's pretty obvious. IMO the cabs aren't great, seem well built but sound middle and boxy

Dave_Mc

^ Yeah you just have to prise the velcro off, then it's pretty easy as they're front-loaded.

Mine sound not too bad, but maybe that's more indicative of the volumes I'm playing at... )

Fez

Mine sounds great. It's never going to beat a Zilla or Montage but for the gigs I do it's ideal.

LooseMoose

Thanks folks - hmmm, just going to try and work out if I can sell one of those cabs with a couple of cheapo Celestions in for what extra it'll cost to buy the cab and not just the speakers!

ICBM

Can't lose really. Given the cost of a pair of new V30s the cab is almost free, and you should be able to sell it with the old speakers in more easily than selling the speakers alone if they're nothing great. Even if you only get £50 for it you're probably ahead.

ThePrettyDamned

If you need two vintage 30's, buy one, rip them out, put your own speakers in, market it as an upgraded harley benton ply (!) cab and rake it maybe 50-70 quid.

Free vintage 30's plus a couple of celebratory beers.

My mate has one of those, and it sounds quite good. It's not a huge 2x12 and I find 2 vintage 30s in a 2x12 to always sound midday, but he swapped one out for a t75 and it sounds great.

He also tried a pair of greenbacks in it. This was my favourite configuration but he didn't like how loose it was.

ThePrettyDamned

ICBM beat me to it. (

guitarfishbay

They're decent for the money but too shallow to sound great with V30s for my own tastes. I think the dimensions are the biggest reason they sound boxy, I've found I only ever like closed back cabs with V30s that are full 4x12 depth (around 36cm IIRC).

Dave_Mc

ICBM said:

Can't lose really. Given the cost of a pair of new V30s the cab is almost free, and you should be able to sell it with the old speakers in more easily than selling the speakers alone if they're nothing great. Even if you only get £50 for it you're probably ahead.

Yeah that's what I'd have thought. About the only way you can lose if you know you want V30s is if they're not the impedance you need.

IanSavage

Whereabouts are you @LooseMoose? I know someone who might have a need of a compact-ish cheap-ish cab...

Fortheloveofguitar

I gig with 2 of these

Bloody fantastic for the money. Go for it

ICBM

IanSavage said:

Whereabouts are you @LooseMoose? I know someone who might have a need of a compact-ish cheap-ish cab…

So do I .

LooseMoose

Herefordshire giving this some serious thought. Shame they don't do one with Creambacks

ICBM

LooseMoose said:

Herefordshire

Ah, hillbilly country…

I grew up there! But I live in Scotland now, so not much use to you .

PolarityMan

i bought one, flogged the v30s and fired in neos.

its a great cab for the money

ICBM

The guitarist in my band has just bought one to go with his Jet City 50 head that we keep at the practice room. Previously he's used the studio's Line 6 4x12" (total crap, sounded like a fuzzy blanket over the amp) and a Montage 1x12" with an Eminence Legend he took out of a Soldano combo (too thin and lacking punch). Interestingly he tried the HB cab at home with his SLO and found it was too upper-middy, which is a common report about Soldanos and V30s, so we were not sure whether it would work with the JC or not.

Answer: it's brilliant. The Jet City is almost too bright compared to the SLO, but the HB cab takes the top end off and it sounds great. It has a chunky, slightly gritty crunch and sounds much bigger than it is, at some points almost seeming to have an extra bottom octave compared to the other two cabs.

Given that the combined price is under £400 for both (£229 for the amp and about £160 for the cab) it really is a stunning rig for the money. It's definitely a modern/hard rock tone, but flexible enough to cover a bit of other ground as well.

Dave_Mc

^ Yeah. That's what I always say about the Jet City combined with the HB cab- I'm not saying it's quite as good as £1500 rigs, but considering how crazy cheap it is it gets remarkably close. It can hang with any of my other amps.

(I know I use V12s in the jet city cab but I tried the jet city head with the HB cab as well.)

Hertz32

I have the non-v30 one. Looking to save up for a harley benton 412 with V30's in the future. Very well made for the money, but thomanns speakers are on the middy side. V30's would be better I reckon. Buy one just make sure it has v30's is my advice.

lasermonkey

Anyone tried a Jet City head with the HB 2x12, with one of the V30s swapped for a Greenback or G12H? Would that give you more of an early 70's vibe?

I'm pretty clueless about speakers, to be honest!

ICBM

lasermonkey said:

Anyone tried a Jet City head with the HB 2x12, with one of the V30s swapped for a Greenback or G12H? Would that give you more of an early 70's vibe?

I'm pretty clueless about speakers, to be honest!

I haven't tried it, but I'm pretty familiar with these speakers and I'm almost certain I know what effect it will have on the tone - yes, it will open up the sound a bit and give it a slightly looser bottom end and more top - though not too much.

Also, don't use a G12H-30. Now the G12H-75 Creamback - which is essentially a high-powered H30 - is available, the V30/H30 combination is a bad choice because it limits the total power rating of the cab to 60W, and makes the wrong speaker reach maximum power first. This was always a problem with this pairing - it won't be with the Creamback since it has a higher rating than the V30, so you keep the 120W cab rating and you can push the V30 harder, which is the right way round.

Likewise for the Greenback vs the G12M-65 Creamback, although I've never liked that combination for tone either.